Thinking Back
by Palmer4President
Summary: Oneshot inspired by the picture on Karen's desk in episode 6x19. Season 6 spoilers.


**A/N: Hi everyone! So, this is the first story that I have posted over here, so I hope you all like it. You can't even begin to imagine how much it would mean to me if you just dropped me a quick review when you were done reading this. Thanks and I hope you like this!**

**As a disclaimer, I do not own 24 or any of its characters. Nor do I own Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream (well, I own a few pints of it, but not the copyright to it ), and I do not wish to offend anyone from Workaholics Anonymous. If I do, I offer my sincere apologies and will gladly remove this story. **

When Bill didn't pick up the phone, Karen knew that she had blown it. _What was I thinking? I can't fire him,_ she scolded herself. But it was too late. Karen had let her career take the first priority, and in doing so, she had undoubtedly hurt her marriage in a way that it might not recover from. The thought of losing Bill made Karen want to leave work immediately. She wanted to call him and make things right again. And if that didn't work, her only plan was to go back to her hotel room with the biggest carton of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream that she could find and cry until she couldn't cry any more.

Karen closed her eyes, trying to hold back the tears. As hard as she tried, she still felt a few escape the corners of her eyes. _How could I be so stupid?_ was her only coherent thought as she sat behind her desk.

Karen looked at the picture she had framed on her desk of her and Bill. It was one of them on their honeymoon in Hawaii. As painful as it was to think about Bill, she couldn't help but smile a little bit as she thought back to when that picture had been taken. That was their first night there, when Bill had shown her how to relax and put work aside for a little while. God, she wished she could go back there. She closed her eyes and her mind immediately flew back to that night.

* * *

Hawaii was the one place on Karen's list of "Places To See Before I Die" that Bill was willing to go to on their honeymoon. Rome was too far away ("Do you know how long those plane rides are?"), San Francisco was too close ("Can we at least get outside of California?"), he used to live in New York City ("It's really not all that special once you get used to it.")- they all had some reason why they just wouldn't work. Finally, they agreed on Hawaii. They booked a week at a hotel in Honolulu and were set to fly out there the day after their wedding.

The newlyweds checked into their hotel at 5:00 that afternoon. Waiting for them at the front desk was an envelope from Karen's mother and Bill's father. Bill opened it up and began to read the contents aloud.

"'Dearest Karen and Bill,'" he read. "'Congratulations! We are so happy for both of you. We hope that your marriage is everything and more than you want it to be. By the time you read this, we will have given you all of the best wishes that you could possibly want to hear from us, so that is not the point of this letter. Tonight, you have a reservation at the Diamond-By-The-Sea restaurant under the name Buchanan at 6:30. Consider it a wedding present from your parent and parent-in-law. Enclosed is a map from your hotel to the restaurant. We love you both so much and wish you the happiest of times together. Your loving parents, Beverly Fitzgerald and Frank Buchanan.'"

"How thoughtful," Karen said as Bill pulled the map out of the envelope. They thanked the woman at the front desk and gathered their things to go up to their room.

They entered their suite, and Bill set down their suitcases on the bed. As Karen placed her purse on the desk, Bill came up behind her and wrapped his arms around his new wife, kissing her neck from behind. Karen turned in his arms to face him and captured his lips in a deep, fiery kiss. Bill tangled his hands in her hair and kissed her back with everything he had, completely losing himself in the wonderful woman in front of him. Suddenly, however, a faint ringing brought them back down to earth. Bewildered, they pulled apart, and it took them a second to comprehend what was going on. After a few rings, Bill was able to conclude that the sound was coming from Karen's purse on the table behind them. Her cell phone.

"Oh my God, Bill, I am so sorry. I forgot to turn it off," Karen gushed as she reached into her purse to see who was calling her. Before she could check the caller ID, Bill slid the phone out of her hands.

"Let me handle this," he whispered into her ear. "Hello?" He answered the phone in his professional "CTU voice," as Karen had one called it. There was a pause as he listened to the other end. "I'm sorry, but Karen is actually on her honeymoon right now and isn't taking calls. She'll have to get back to you in a few days," Bill said with a completely straight face. Karen silently prayed that it wasn't someone from the office. "No, that's all right," Bill told the person on the other end, "Thank you, and I'll tell her that. Goodbye." He hung up the phone and Karen gave him a questioning look.

"Who was that?" she asked curiously.

"Wayne Palmer," Bill answered seriously. "He said that he was sorry for disturbing you, congratulations, and to take your time getting back to him." For a few seconds, Karen just stared at Bill in the hope that he would admit his joke. When he said nothing and went to turn her phone off and put it back in her purse, she put a hand on his arm and looked up at him.

"You're kidding, right?" she asked, horrified. Bill shook his head.

"Nope, those were his exact words."

"Bill! You don't say that to the man running for the Presidency!" Karen exclaimed. "I should call him back." She reached for her phone that Bill was still holding, but he held it out of her reach.

"No, no, no, not so fast, Ms. Hayes," he said, despite her disbelieving look. "There is a time and a place for everything, and our honeymoon is not a place for work."

"Bill, come on, what if it's important?"

"It's not," he assured her. When she pouted, Bill proclaimed, "You, my dear, are a workaholic."

"I am not," Karen defended.

"Yes, you are, and fortunately, I know how to solve this problem." Karen raised an eyebrow at her husband, inviting him to elaborate. "You see, I was once a sponsor for Workaholics Anonymous, and they happen to have a twelve step program for getting away from your work."

"Oh, please," Karen muttered.

"Don't worry, we'll do this together, sweetheart," Bill said, trying to hide the amusement that was starting to creep into his voice. At this point, Karen decided to humor him.

"Okay, fine."

Bill took her through the steps without much resistance. Karen had to bite her tongue at a few points to keep from protesting, but she was generally okay as Bill took away work-related items such as her cell phone and pager.

"Good." Bill nodded, pleased with his progress so far. "The next step is to get rid of your sense of needing to be somewhere at a certain time."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Karen asked, confused. Bill nodded to her wrist.

"Your watch," he said seriously. Karen only laughed.

"What is getting rid my watch going to do?" she asked, still laughing slightly. Bill waited a second for her to stop laughing.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, reaching for the hand with the watch around it. Karen sighed quietly.

"With my life, you know that," Karen replied, immediately softening at his touch.

"Then let's get rid of this," he said as he took the watch off of her wrist. She pouted for a second in a way that, briefly, reminded him of Chloe. He couldn't help but shudder a little at this, which received a questioning look from Karen.

"I need to get away from work too," was the only explanation he offered. He took off his own watch and added it to his confiscated items. "Okay, well, I think we're almost done," he announced.

"It's about time," Karen muttered sourly. Bill grinned and kissed her cheek.

"The last thing we have to do is put this away where it's not going to bother us," he stated, carrying the collection over to the closet. Opening the closet, he found a small safe that the hotel provided for keeping valuables in. He placed his collection in it and started to change the combination.

"Oh, come on Bill, is that really necessary?" Karen asked, coming up next to him.

"Yes it is," he said as he finished with the combination. He shut the door. "There. I'll get them all out when we're ready to leave, but not before then." He wrapped his arms around Karen and started kissing her shoulder. "Now, where were we…" he mumbled into her. Karen closed her eyes and let the feeling of Bill kissing her overwhelm her. Before she could get too lost in him, however, she had one last question.

"You only went through eleven steps," she reminded him. Bill stopped what he was doing and looked up at her questioningly. "Well, you said it was a twelve step program. I'm just wondering what the last step is," she said pointedly. He had to think for a moment before answering.

"The last step is to enjoy your honeymoon with your husband. In every way you can," he whispered in her ear in a low voice. Karen smiled and turned in Bill's arms.

"I think I can handle that," she said before kissing him again, this time without the possibility of interruption.

An hour later, Karen found herself in the bathroom making some last-minute makeup changes. Bill appeared in the doorway.

"You almost ready to leave?" he asked. "We're probably going to be late as it is." Karen raised an eyebrow at Bill.

"What happened to not caring about what time it was?" she asked amusedly.

"This is the only time that we have a dinner reservation at a certain time," he pointed out. "After this, we don't have to worry about time."

Karen finished up, put away the last of her makeup, and the couple headed out to dinner. As they walked down the hallway, Bill reached over and took Karen's hand in his. The couple stood waiting for the elevator in contented silence for a moment before Bill spoke.

"Sweetheart, I have a confession to make," he said seriously. Karen raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh?"

"I made up everything about Workaholics Anonymous. The whole twelve-step program thing. I have never been involved in WA." Karen laughed at his seemingly serious admission.

"I know, honey," she told him, her eyes twinkling. "I guessed that, and I was going to call you on it, except that we got a little…distracted." Bill grinned mischievously at his wife.

"Well, I don't recall you objecting to that particular distraction," he reminded her.

"I never said I did," she told him lightly as the elevator arrived.

Twenty minutes later, Bill and Karen arrived at the Diamond-By-The-Sea restaurant. It was a quiet little place on the edge of the beach overlooking Maunalua Bay. It had a very romantic air about it with the sun just beginning to set over the Pacific Ocean. The couple walked into the restaurant and, despite being twenty minutes late, was led to a private table in the back of the restaurant.

Soon, a waiter appeared with a pair of red leis for both Bill and Karen. They donned the matching leis, which they were told symbolized love. After they had ordered, Bill reached over the table and gently took Karen's hand.

"This is absolutely fantastic," he said, brushing his lips across the back of her hand. "Remind me to thank our parents when we get home."

"I will," she assured him. She sat back and studied him for a moment, taking a sip of her wine. A confused look crossed Bill's face.

"What?" Karen paused before answering.

"The red lei looks good on you," she replied, grinning playfully. Bill returned her smile as their food arrived.

Their meal was delicious and enjoyable. It was peppered with light conversation and flirting- Bill occasionally causing Karen to blush, Karen teasing Bill about one thing or another, both of them finding any occasion to touch the other. All too soon, their food was gone and they were ready to leave. As they stood up, a waiter approached them with a camera.

"Excuse me, I have a request to take your picture," he said, holding up his camera. Bill frowned slightly.

"Who is the request from?" he asked, slightly suspicious.

"From a Mr. Frank Buchanan," the waiter replied. Bill rolled his eyes.

"Gotta love dear old Dad," he muttered, slightly embarrassed. Karen put an arm around him and smiled up at him.

"He is paying the bill tonight," she gently reminded him.

"Very true," Bill agreed. In all honesty, he couldn't find it in him to be upset with his father right now, and if all he wanted was a picture, then Bill wasn't going to object. Bill reached for Karen, wrapping his arms around her. Karen put an arm around Bill, leaning into him and beaming happily. The waiter snapped the photograph and motioned for them to look at on the digital camera's screen. When the photo popped up, Bill was pleasantly surprised.

"Aw, that's a sweet picture," Karen gushed, mirroring Bill's thoughts. "Could you make a copy for us?" she asked the waiter. As she pulled out a piece of paper to write down their address to send it to, Bill could only think how lucky he was that he was married to such an incredible woman. On the way back to their rental car, Bill reached an arm around Karen's shoulders and pulled her close to him.

"I love you," he whispered into her ear, kissing her cheek. She turned her head to face him and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

"I love you too," she told him. "No matter what, I'll always love you."

Bill grinned. "Good, because I don't have any plans to stop loving you any time soon, so I guess you're stuck with me for a while."

"I'll gladly be stuck with you," Karen said. Bill placed another sweet kiss on her lips.

"Good."

* * *

Karen opened her eyes and realized that they were slightly wet. She quickly wiped away the tears, glancing around her office to make sure no one saw them. The only witness to her moment of weakness was the still-beaming picture of herself and Bill on their honeymoon. She realized that he was always the witness to these moments, no matter the time or place.

**The End**


End file.
